


Gifted

by Alysskea



Category: Supernatural, X-Men (Movies)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-20
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-13 23:28:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2169354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alysskea/pseuds/Alysskea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What is it?” asked Castiel. “What’s happened to me?” He could see the other men visibly relaxing, as though the hard part was over.</p><p>Charles twisted around, trying to get as close to Cas as possible, and Cas wondered why he didn’t just climb into the back seat, but whatever.</p><p>“You’re in school, Castiel?” he asked. Cas nodded. “And in school they teach you about evolution?”</p><p>“Yes."</p><p>“Well then…” Charles shrugged. “There you have it.”</p><p> </p><p>This is a WIP that I am writing for my BFF for her 21st birthday.</p><p>The tags will make more sense once you start reading, I swear!</p><p>I'm not going to pretend that this is exactly literary genius but it might be fun to read if you like X-Men and Supernatural.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rosetylerrox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosetylerrox/gifts).



It had started when he was sixteen. Exactly sixteen, actually. On the morning of his birthday. At first he had just thought he must have slept funny. He woke up to a stabbing pain in his left shoulder, and by the time he got to school it had spread to his right. By lunchtime, he was sitting in the nurse’s office with his head between his knees, he thought he would pass out from the pain. It felt like white hot knives stabbing him in both shoulder blades, over and over in time with his rapidly increasing heart rate. There were stars in front of his eyes, and his vision was blurry. He heard himself ask if he was dying, but the nurse only laughed. The nurse had called Anna, who was pissed at him for making her leave work (“I get paid by the hour, Castiel, don’t you think you could have waited it out until 4?”). He’d tried to apologise, but speaking was beyond him. She’d driven him home and thrown him in bed, kissing his clammy forehead and rushing back to the diner (“Get better, dumbass”). Castiel had drifted off minutes later, his entire body exhausted. He awoke in the early evening, blissfully free from the pain of earlier. Sighing in relief, he pulled his pillow towards him and snuggled into the downy feathers of his bed. He was about to drift off again when he realised his bed didn't have any feathers.

He froze, afraid to open his eyes. What the fuck? It felt like hours before he finally to crack one eye open. Well, he’d been right about the feathers. He was surrounded by the damn things. Long, soft white feathers were cocooning him in his sleep. He felt bile rise in his throat as he sprang out of bed, catching sight of himself in the mirror. The feathers were attached to him. Not only that, but they moved with him when he stood, spreading out of their own accord and spanning across his small bedroom, almost wall to wall. Great big clusters of feathers, thousands of them were protruding from his shoulder blades, but it didn't hurt a bit. They seemed to breathe with him. The feathers came together to form two distinct yet harmonious entities. Wings.

********************************************************

The Car had been following Castiel for 3 days now. He first saw it on a Tuesday, when he’d been walking to school drenched in rain and apathy. His alarm clock had gone off at the usual time of seven, and he had, as usual, turned it off and got out of bed at eight when his older sister had smacked him over the head with a pillow. Being half asleep at the time, he may not have noticed the car had it not been so damn conspicuous. It was parked on the end of his street on the corner, a huge and intimidating FBI looking thing, within this giant ass obnoxious ‘X’ right across the bumper. A low humming sound was coming from where it was parked, its engine still running. He squinted, attempting to make out who was inside, but the black-tinted windows only allowed him to see silhouettes. Two of them, sitting in the front. He had walked onward, already late for class, but the sighting weighed on his mind for the rest of the day.

His curiosity had almost faded by Wednesday morning, as he sat at the back of English class, eyes on the stormy weather outside. He shifted in his seat, trying to dispel the ache in his shoulder blades, though he knew it wouldn't go away. He hadn't let his wings out in days, and he could feel them poking against his skin, prodding as though they had a mind of their own. He wished the damn things would leave him be. He met his best friend Charlie after a particularly torturous Wednesday afternoon gym class. By then, thanks to the mind-numbing pain in his back, Castiel had completely forgotten about yesterday’s car-related drama. Charlie was talking at him animatedly with an angry pout on her pale face, and he strained his ears through the pain to listen to what she was saying. “I just don’t get it,” she moaned in his ear, sounding genuinely distressed.

“THEY ARE SO IN LOVE.”

She shoved her iPhone in his face, displaying an image of a blonde and brunette engaging in what appeared to be some serious eyesex.

“I’m telling you, Cas, Emma and Regina are MEANT TO BE TOGETHER.” She looked at him with wide eyes, as if she was waiting for some kind of validation.

“I erm… I don’t doubt that, Charlie,” Castiel forced a laugh and patted her on the back “I’m sure that as we speak they’re making out and stripping and marrying each other and having babies and…” he frowned as they turned the corner onto the street where Charlie’s bungalow was. A black vehicle was parked on the corner, engine running, with its obnoxious X reflecting the street light above. An icy feeling crept into his chest and his breathing quickened as he glared at the car. Why was it here? Why was it following him? And why did it have such a dumbass gay looking X on the bonnet?

“Cas?” Charlie poked him in the ribs jokingly “Earth to Cas!” He turned his head to see her gazing at him with a concerned look on her face. “Dude, you totally just zoned out on me, what’s going on?” Castiel shook his head “Nothing it’s just, do you see that car over there?” He tried to be subtle as he angled his head toward the vehicle.

“That cool Torchwood looking thing? Yeah,” Charlie said “What about it?”

Castiel only shrugged, he didn’t want Charlie to think he was some sort of paranoid narcissist “Nothing, it’s just I saw it yesterday as well and… Well, yeah I mean nothing. It’s pretty cool, right?” Charlie, being, of course, the best friend ever, didn’t push him. She nodded, muttered something about Captain Jack Harkness in the back seat (naked) and carried on chattering.

Cas called out when he entered his house, but his calling was met with a silence. He sighed, shrugging off his backpack. He would never admit it to them, but he missed his siblings. The three of them, Castiel and his brother and sister, had once been close, but over the past few months they had grown apart. Now it felt like they were strangers. Cas knew it was his fault, the distance between them. He avoided them on purpose, he didn’t know what to say.

“How was school, Cas?” Anna would ask, eyes so bright and hopeful that he couldn’t tell the truth. Couldn’t tell her about the bullying and the loneliness and the “You deserved it, faggot” so he’d shrug and look down to avoid lying. He could never lie to his sister. Anna would always let it go then, but Gabriel would always leap in: “What’s wrong Cas?/You seem down/you were happier/what changed?”.

“I don’t know,” Castiel wanted say “Maybe it’s cos I grew wings out of my back on my sixteenth birthday and I’m possibly some kind of deformed freak and maybe not even human”. But of course he stayed silent, he’d shrug his shoulders and force a smile, slinking off to his room without finishing his dinner.

The next day, Castiel, didn’t see The Car at all. He began to relax, and went round to Charlie’s after school, staying a couple of hours to fangirl over comic books with her before the pain became too much and he had to excuse himself, giving her a tentative hug and trying not to wince when she wrapped her arms around him in return. He was just congratulating himself on his car-free day and drawing his curtain to turn in for the night when he saw it again.. The big black car sitting outside his house, shiny ‘X’ reflecting the yellow streetlight. He felt fear rise in his chest, but it only spurred him on. He shoved on his slippers and a hoodie without thinking, slipping out of his front door and striding up to the vehicle. This wasn’t just paranoia, it couldn’t be, whoever the hell was driving this thing was stalking him, and he was going to find out who it was.


	2. Chapter 2

“Erik, darling, you know I love you dearly but I really think we’ve reached a dead end on this one.” Charles eyed the man beside him suspiciously. They’d been driving around for three days now, sitting in a stuffy car and observing this boy who, to him, seemed completely normal.

“Are you calling me a liar, Charles?” His companion glared at him, eyebrows raised in questioning.

Charles attempted to sigh, though it came out as more of a growl. “No, Erik I’m not calling you a liar, I’m just saying he seems like a perfectly normal young man to me. Maybe he isn’t one of ours.” There was silence in the car for an uncomfortably long period, and Charles stared out the window at the darkness, avoiding Erik’s eye.

“He’s one of ours, Charles. Trust me.”

They remained silent for a good twenty minutes after that, Charles was too tired to argue, and when was the last time he’d won an argument with Erik anyway? “I do,” he muttered, not taking his eyes away from the window. He heard Erik turn to look at him.

“What was that Professor?” Erik asked under his breath.

Charles smiled meekly, “I said I do trust you.” He turned his head just far enough to look his companion in the eye.

Erik cleared his throat unsure what to say. No one else in the world trusted him, and they were right to be suspicious. He didn’t trust himself most of the time. He knew that half the time back at the school people were whispering behind his back, saying that he shouldn’t be around teenagers, shouldn’t be allowed to teach with what he’s done. He was reminded just how untrustworthy he was every morning when he lifted Charles out of their bed and into the shower while Charles averted his eyes in shame.

“Well then you’re an idiot, Charles Xavier.”

Charles caught Erik off guard (as he often did) tipping his head back and laughing, and Erik felt a surge of affection for him. When he laughed like that, he could almost be young again – the mischievous genius who had pulled him out of the water and ran with him in the morning. He rolled his eyes and hastily silenced the other man’s hysterics with a kiss. That shut Charles right up, and he pulled back with a knowing look, resting his hand on the back of Erik’s neck. They both jumped when they heard a knock on the window.

“Shit.” Charles said.

“Sheisse.” Replied Erik.

It was going to be a long night.

“Open up!” Cas wasn’t exactly sure what he was trying to achieve, standing in the cold and knocking on the window of a random car, but it needed to be done. He was angry, yes, and scared about being followed, but it was more than that. If these people knew about his… condition, then maybe they had answers. Someone had to have answers, right? Someone had to be able to explain to him why this was happening to him and what it meant. The tinted window rolled down, revealing a sight that surprised Castiel. He’d been expecting something far more intimidating, big guys in sunglasses and long matrix-style coats or stony faced cops or doctors in white coats ready to whisk him away to experiment on. What he hadn’t expected was two grey haired men sitting side by side in pajamas with nervous smiles on their faces. The one in the drivers seat stuck his hand out the window to shake.

“Castiel Novak? My name is Erik Lehnsherr, myself and my partner would like a word.” He was English sounding, with a twang of something else. Cas stared at his hand like it was on fire, and Erik retracted it, flashing Charles a frustrated look. Bloody teenagers.

“We just want to talk to you, Castiel,” the other man chimed in “When we’re done, you can go. If you still want to.”

Castiel stayed silent, unsure of what to say. He was pretty sure this was exactly the kind of thing his parents, had they stuck around, would have told him not to do. Getting into a weird car with two weird stalker men wasn’t a good idea. But then again, he could outrun them, couldn’t he? There was nothing special about them, he was sure they couldn’t be too dangerous. He was kidding himself, of course. This was a terrible idea, yes, but there was no way he wasn’t going to get in that car. There was no way he was going to run away, what if these men knew something? What if they could help him? He said nothing as he climbed into the leather coated back seat, eyes wide.

The man in the passenger seat turned to smile him with bright eyes “Thank you Castiel,” he said in a shmancy English accent, “We appreciate your cooperation. My name is Professor Charles Xavier.”

Cas shook his head “I’m not cooperating. I mean, what would I be cooperating in?”

The guy - Charles - smiled at him “Like we said, we just want to talk to you.” Cas stayed quiet as the two men looked at him expectantly, as though he was the one with the answers. Charles was still smiling at him kindly, while the other man was growing visibly frustrated.

“We know you must be confused, Castiel,” Charles said in a soft voice “And we understand that this must be very confusing for you. We will do our utmost to avoid any discomfort, and make sure you’re-” he was cut off as Erik leaned across and put a hand on his shoulder.

“We know, Castiel,” Erik said with a stern face. Cas could feel his heart beating in his throat, and he briefly wondered if he’d have to pay for the seats to be cleaned if he vomited on them.

“You… Know?”

The two men exchanged a look, and Castiel could swear they looked bored, like they’d done this a thousand times.

“We know you’re special,” said Charles.

“Different,” Erik added.

“Gifted,” they both said at once.

Cas reached a hand behind his head and ran it over his shoulder blade absent mindedly, and the elderly men both nodded at him.

“What is it?” asked Castiel. “What’s happened to me?” He could see the other men visibly relaxing, as though the hard part was over.

Charles twisted around, trying to get as close to Cas as possible, and Cas wondered why he didn’t just climb into the back seat, but whatever.

“You’re in school, Castiel?” he asked. Cas nodded. “And in school they teach you about evolution?”

“Yes."

“Well then…” Charles shrugged. “There you have it.”

Cas stared back at them, dumbstruck. “I’ve evolved to be this way?” He asked, eyes wide “Does that mean… Does that mean I’m definitely human?” He could hardly mask the hope in his voice.

Charles gave him a knowing smile “For all intents and purposes, Castiel, you’re human. You’re as human as you want to be, anyway. Some people-” his eyes drifted to Erik “- aren’t too happy with that title.”

Castiel was rocking in his seat slightly, this was a lot to take in. And, wait a minute, they still hadn’t explained-

“Why are you here? How did you find me? What do you want to talk to me about?”

Erik shook his head disapprovingly “One question at a time, Castiel.”

Charles elbowed him in the ribs, rolling his eyes. “Please excuse my partner, manners aren’t his strong point. We’re here because, like we said, you’re gifted Castiel. And gifted people are our… department of expertise. You’re special now, Castiel, but you can get better. You can get so much better.”

“How do you suppose I do that, exactly?” Cas asked, and found himself averting his eyes- being called special made him uncomfortable.

“With our help.” Erik supplied.

“Erik and run a school,” Charles added, keeping his voice low, words soft and calculated. “Sort of like the one you attend now but… well, not at all like it. We’ll teach you to control your gift, to use it, to enhance it.”

“A school?” Cas questioned in disbelief “You mean there are more people like me?” Could there really be enough freaks to fill a school? If there were, maybe he wasn’t a freak after all. Just another kind of person. The phone he’d pocketed in his hoodie flew out and into Erik’s hand. The old man smirked, chucking it back at him.

“You could say that.”

They were both laughing now, not mocking, just a low chuckle.

“You’re…” Cas began.

“We both are,” Erik replied.

Cas turned to Charles, who was looking on in amusement “What can you do then?” Cas questioned him almost accusingly.

Charles and Erik glanced at each other, smirking.

“I can read minds,” Charles said, and Cas laughed out loud.

“You can’t.” He shook his head, “No way”.

Charles raised two fingers to his temple “You’re thinking about Brad Pitt.”

Cas scoffed “Lucky guess.”

Charles narrowed his eyes “You’re thinking about Alan Corbett. He’s in your Maths, no, History class. Very handsome. You think he has a nice backside.”

Castiel looked away, scandalised as Charles and Erik laughed together. He couldn’t help but crack a smile as he hid his face in his hands. These guys might be strangers, but they knew all the things he kept from everyone else, and apparently they still thought he was ‘special’.

“You want me to come to your school,” he said.

The pair nodded in unison.

“Can I tell my family first?”

Charles nodded, “Of course.”

"And my friends? Well, friend.”

“Yes."

“Okay."


End file.
